Mosquito-Borne Flaviviruses and Current Therapeutic Advances

Abstract

Mosquito-borne flavivirus infections affect approximately 400 million people worldwide each year and are global threats to public health. The common diseases caused by such flaviviruses include West Nile, yellow fever, dengue, Zika infection and Japanese encephalitis, which may result in severe symptoms and disorders of multiple organs or even fatal outcomes. Till now, no specific antiviral agents are commercially available for the treatment of the diseases. Numerous strategies have been adopted to develop novel and promising inhibitors against mosquito-borne flaviviruses, including drugs targeting the critical viral components or essential host factors during infection. Research advances in antiflaviviral therapy might optimize and widen the treatment options for flavivirus infection. This review summarizes the current developmental progresses and involved molecular mechanisms of antiviral agents against mosquito-borne flaviviruses.

Keywords: antiviral agent; flavivirus; host factor; mosquito-borne; therapeutic strategy; viral nonstructural protein.

Figure 1

Flavivirus replication cycle and the targeted antiviral strategies. The virion binds to the surface of the host cell through specific receptors and is internalized into the host cell by clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Flavivirus is then uncoated, and its genome is released into the cytoplasm for the subsequent biosynthesis including replication and translation. After that, the virion is assembled and maturated for release. During these processes, various viral proteins and host factors participate in the flavivirus replication cycle, providing multiple antiviral targets for therapeutic interventions. Red words and lines indicate the antiviral agents targeting different viral proteins and host factors during flaviviral infection.